Burning Touch
by AnomalyDetected
Summary: There's times where no one can touch Abby Maitland, but the team doesn't know why and they don't know when, so when they do touch her, accidental or not; they get a very unexpected reaction. Trying to calm her down is near impossible, but they know better than to leave a friend suffering in silence.
1. Becker

_**AN: This will be a series of shorts about the team finding out that Abby does not like to be touched at certain times, that she actually has a phobia. This includes the topic of child abuse so I suggest if you're triggered by that, don't read on.**_

Her eyes were wide and her lip was bleeding, she had bitten down on it too hard again. Her hands shook and adrenaline rushed through her. He had touched her and it terrified her. Fear filled her body from head to toe and for once; she couldn't hide it. It was written all over her face and there was nothing she could do. She was internally freaking out; so close to a breakdown. She needed to escape more than ever and yet she was frozen.

Stuck in one place.

"Abigail?" Becker raised an eyebrow, watching as Abby's face twisted. He had called her that _damn_ name, the terrible name she refused to listen to. She couldn't stand it; that was the name her father had screamed over and over again.  
"You touched me..." She finally muttered feeling absolutely useless and stupid. So what? Why had it been such a big deal? Why couldn't she just be _normal_?  
"I'm sorry...it was just a friendly punch. Did it hurt?" He was confused. She normally never acted like this, she usually punched him back as hard as she could. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.  
She nodded slowly and looked down, words not being able to form anymore. What was she supposed to do? Tell him that even a simple touch would've made her act like this? That his touch had _burned_?  
"Abs, is something wrong?" His face softened up and he held his hands behind his back so he didn't accidentally wrap her up in a hug. He could tell she didn't want that.  
"No, no. Nothing's wrong, Becker. Can you just...go away?" Abby couldn't help but lie. She didn't want to tell him, she didn't want to tell anyone. Everyone would think differently of her then...  
"I'm not stupid, you know." He claimed, rolling his eyes.  
"So says you."  
"Very funny." A tight lipped smile appeared on his face. "I just want to help, you know."  
"You can't help, no one can help, and no one will ever be able to help."

Becker sighed. She was a stubborn woman, practically a carbon copy of him and it was extremely frustrating. What could ever get through to her? Finally, he gave up saying anything. It wasn't worth his time. The soldier didn't leave, though. Instead, he just stood there staring at her. Maybe the silence would get her to fess up.

Abby could glare at someone for hours if she attempted to...and that's what a part of her wanted right now. To kill Becker with her look, but another part of her wanted to crawl into his arms and have him make everything better. He was her best friend, he should be allowed to touch her and yet; sometimes no one could. But she could never explain it to anyone so she never mentioned it...and now it was about to be forced out of her.

After what seemed to be ten minutes, she looked down and cleared her throat. "It wasn't the punch that hurt,"  
Becker nodded slowly, relieved that she was going to talk. Though she'd never admit it, sometimes she needed to talk. Everyone did. He stayed silent, just listening.  
"It was your-your hand against my skin that hurt." She looked at the baffled look on his face and started playing with the bracelets that were wrapped around her wrist. She needed something to occupy her hands that wanted to do nothing but cause pain. "I know you probably won't ever understand, but I just can't. I can't touch anyone, no one can touch me. Not right now. It burns, not literally but that's how it feels to me. That's the only way I've ever been able to describe it..."  
"I'm sorry, Abby. I really didn't know. You should give a guy some warning, huh?" Becker gave a small smile.  
"Yeah...no one really knew. I liked it that way...then no one thought I was stupid." Abby mumbled, plopping herself down on a bench. "I think I'm always scared that when someone touches me, they're going to hurt me...because dad used to hurt me and after that...well...no one was ever allowed to touch me unless I allowed them or I directed it. Otherwise I lost all control over myself. I punched people, I screamed at people, I had meltdowns...school was hell."

The soldier gulped. He hadn't been expecting that. Hadn't expected what she had just told him, but now that she had; she saw her in a completely different light and it made him want to kill the man that ever decided to hurt such a beautiful girl.

"It doesn't make you stupid...it makes you smart. No one wants to get hurt again; no one wants to get hurt to begin with. But I just want you to know that I will never, ever hurt you intentionally and I'm sorry for doing so. Next time I will be more careful, yeah? Because you're like my sister...I want you to be happy."

Tears were filling her eyes and she tried to hide it. She didn't want him to see her cry, even if they were much happier tears than what tears were going to be spilled before. How was it that even if Becker didn't understand, he could make her feel so much better about everything? It wasn't fair.

A small smirk appeared on her face as she hesitantly raised her fist to punch him lightly on the shoulder. That was all she could take at the moment, but that seemed alright with him, who just laughed it off. "Thank you, idiot face. You're far too nice to me."  
"That's because, Abby Maitland, I know you'll kill me in my sleep if I'm ever too mean to you." He told her, shaking his head. "Now get back to work, yeah?"  
"Yeah, yeah." She was able to take a deep, calming breath and nodded.  
As he walked to the doorway, he turned around. "And by the way; you're welcome." Becker gave her a small wink and left.

It felt nice to tell someone, to not bottle it up and keep it to herself forever, to have a friend that was always going to be there for her; whether he understood or not.

She was getting better and it just felt..._nice_.


	2. Danny

Danny Quinn was a smart man. He was observational and had learned quite a bit about the team by their behavior. But he'd been on the team for two months and never expected this. It almost didn't make sense in his head, she'd been so different before...

"I'm sorry, Abby, but what exactly did I do?" He tilted his head and stared at her. He was kind and wanted to help, but in order to help, he needed to know what had even happened. He'd just tapped her shoulder and she nearly gave him a bloody nose.

"Nothing, really, Danny. Just a rough time on the field, yeah?" The copper could agree, it was rough today. Three dead people, one killed right in front of them, and a child left without his parents sent to a foster home.

"You did good, though. You never cease to amaze me, honestly...most wouldn't have handled that as well as you did." Everyone was a bit off after this mission, including him. He had a soft spot for children and seeing one upset was hard for him, but he felt like there was something more to her sadness.

"I was just doing my job." She shrugged. Her being amazing could hardly be processed in her mind. She didn't hear it all too often, though Connor tried to drill it into her mind. "You did great too."

"Abs, it wasn't a simple mission. It's understandable if you need to talk or vent or cry. I know I did; that kid lost everything...I mean, yeah, I lost my brother. But I was twenty two and I still had parents. Hell, I had three...being him, I couldn't even imagine." Danny shook his head. He'd seen this situation a couple times, minus the dinosaurs, of course, and he wished to god he never had to see it again.

"I want to save everyone." Abby admitted. "I don't want these innocent lives to die, I don't want them to suffer! I mean, whatever happens to them, Danny? After we leave, what happens to them? Do you think they think they're insane, do you think they're okay? Happy, stable? What?"

"I think everyone copes differently and after we leave...we can't do anything. It's not our job." He said softly. "Sweetheart, you've saved so many and no, we can't save everyone but that doesn't mean we've failed. We're only humans doing our best in an impossible circumstance."

She sighed and sat on a bench, looking at the floor. "Yeah." Was all she said, trying to wipe tears from her eyes before they fell. "It takes a toll on you, doesn't it? This job?"

"It does." Danny nodded slowly. "And you can either quit or just keep going...but whichever you choose; it will always be there. The memories of the team, the dinosaurs, the anomalies. We'll take it to the grave." Sitting down across from her, he scratched his neck. "Tomorrow's a day off. Sleep in, cuddle with some lizards, and watch some romcom with Connor. _Breathe_. And hey; maybe I'll swing by with a case of beer, yeah?"

Abby offered him a small smile. "I'm sorry. It's just I can't stand to see kids in these situations...kids are my weaknesses. I never had an ideal childhood and if I can stop someone from suffering the same fate I did I wouldn't hesitate."

Sometimes responding was for the worst, so Danny stayed silent.

"I didn't have any dinosaur on my trail when I was kid, but I did have my dad. He was my dinosaur, he was my monster and it wasn't fun. The man hated my guts, I could never do anything right...and he made sure I knew. Words were never enough for him, he had to leave his mark on me too."

Danny's stomach twisted and turned. She'd never shown it before, but now it seemed so obvious in his mind. He'd dealt with these cases. They were the worst for him for he failed to realize how a parent could hurt a child.

"He's in prison now, but touch can sometimes leave me paralyzed. I try to avoid it in these moods...it hurts, it honestly truly does. I don't know why, I think I should be stronger than that, but when it happens I feel like a child and I don't know what to do. I usually just let it pass and I was planning on doing that; but you kind of disrupted that."

He gave a small smirk and shrugged. "Apparently that's what I'm good at," A chuckle escaped his mouth. "Abby, I'm truly sorry for what happened. If I could stop it; I would. You're a beautiful girl that only deserves the best. You care so much about people and it's good Abby, it's good to care. Never stop, that's when people falter. That's how Helen happens. You can't live in the past forever..."

"Yeah?" She raised an eyebrow and took a deep breath.

"No. You've done good enough at moving on, keep on moving and don't stop. It'll be hard, but when you break...just come to me. I'll see what I can do."

He normally would've hugged her. Wrapped her up tight and promised that he'd always be there, probably would've even kissed her head, but instead he just stood up and walked towards the door, looking at her one more time and offering a smile.

"You've got a team of people who love you, just remember that...and get a lot of sleep. I swear it helps."

Abby smiled and felt a small weight be lifted off her shoulders.

Danny was a good man...


End file.
